


In the Temple Lee

by Shujinkakusama



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-02
Packaged: 2018-04-12 13:42:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4481408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shujinkakusama/pseuds/Shujinkakusama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tension runs high after a strenuous series of missions further shift the Crystal Gems' team balance. Garnet's future vision makes matters worse. "Are you jealous?" / Set in the weeks following "Friend Ship."</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Temple Lee

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt, "Wait a minute. Are you jealous?" over on Tumblr. Oneshot.

Missions were getting progressively harder.

 

Even with the tenuous dynamic between the team restored, more and more often, fights against Gem monsters necessitated retreat. Steven sometimes had to be left behind, solely by the nature of the terrain they fought in, and the disadvantage of not having his shield and ideas to draw from was felt across the board. 

 

The Gem monsters were gathering in groups, deep underground, sometimes below sea level, but were as wild and disorganized as ever. Still, taking down three or more great beasts between the three of them was risky business. Amethyst couldn’t count the number of close calls and didn’t want to. The colony seemed to have a never ending supply of horrors. 

 

Too often, she found herself backed into a wall, at the edge of a cliff too high to risk jumping from. Garnet kept getting away from her; out of sight, doing more damage than she and Pearl could, oftentimes coming to the rescue in the nick of time. 

 

Pearl fought at Amethyst’s back, sometimes. Years of bickering fell away in the face of real danger, and both weaker Gems defaulted to tactics not quite forgotten, fighting in unison, forming Opal more often than they had in over a decade. With each victory, the fusion lasted longer, fell apart less easily. The first few times, Garnet praised them, told them dryly that it was about time.

 

Garnet took to fighting deeper in the colony, leaving them to their own devices. Pearl worried, and Amethyst had to remind her that they had no time for that. 

 

Four days in, the Crystal Gems had to drag themselves home. Opal supported Garnet with a hand that spanned most of her upper back; Garnet was too drained to protest. Steven greeted them eagerly, so ecstatic to see Opal again that the agonizing days of worrying were completely forgotten. 

 

“Opal! Opal!” Steven exclaimed, starry-eyed, hugging the giant woman around the shin, face pressed just below her knee. “You guys fused for the mission?”

 

Opal laughed, rich and low, and reached down to ruffle the boy’s hair. “Deadly situations,” she explained, winking playfully.

 

“I wanna hear about it! How’d it go? Were you fused the whole time?” 

 

“Well—“ she started, but stopped abruptly, staring as Garnet’s much smaller form left through the front door without a word. Worry, then panic, bloomed in the fusion’s chest—Pearl’s feelings—and the contrast to Amethyst’s relief at being home was enough to break Opal apart with a resounding pop that sent both Gems flying. 

 

“Aww!” Steven moaned, helping Amethyst sit upright. “You guys broke apart!”

 

The purple Gem shook her head, pushing her wild hair into its usual part. She watched Pearl sit, saw the way she leaned too far forward, craning her long neck to try to see Garnet as she left the beach house. Amethyst sighed. “Yeah, it happens!” she shrugged, hooking an arm around Steven’s shoulders and drawing him in. “How about I tell you all the good parts while you make me a giant sandwich? Pearl can go make sure Garnet doesn’t get all broody and forget the tide’s coming in.”

 

Two pairs of eyes turned on her, and Amethyst grinned at Steven, but locked eyes with Pearl, inclining her head toward the door. Pearl nodded in understanding, rising despite the weariness in her limbs, and gave Steven a quick pat on the head before rushing to seek Garnet out.

 

There weren’t many places Garnet liked to go for solitude outside of the temple, and fewer yet that were easily accessible without using the warp. Pearl didn’t have to look far. She rounded the cliffside, heading away from Beach City. “Garnet?” she called, squinting against the sun’s reflection on the sea. 

 

“I’m here,” Garnet’s voice was weary, resigned to the inevitable. No amount of exhaustion would have kept Pearl from seeking her out, and she knew it. She was near the tide pools, sitting with her back propped against a rock outcropping just barely taller than she was. Pearl was at her side almost immediately, legs folded neatly under her as she sat. Garnet’s expression was unreadable, but she made no effort to move.

 

Pearl worried her lower lip, bit the inside of her cheek while she weighed her options, unsure of what to say. No one was badly hurt; asking about Garnet’s physical condition was moot. Her Gems were intact, and everything else could be left to time. The pale Gem sat, hands folded in her lap, eyes darting over her companion’s form. Nothing major. Nothing Steven needed to heal for them. 

 

“You and Amethyst have been getting along well lately,” Garnet said abruptly, causing Pearl to jump. 

 

“Huh?” she shook her head, and the action brought a wave of dizziness. Pearl leaned gingerly against Garnet’s shoulder while she tried to steady herself, then pushed herself back up. “I… suppose so. I hadn’t thought about it.”

 

“You’ve been forming Opal again.”

 

Pearl nodded, unsure of why that mattered. “We’ve needed to. The Gem monsters are out of our league.”

 

Garnet said nothing, resting her chin in her hand, staring ahead without really seeing anything. Her thoughts were jumbled. “I suppose you’ll be working together exclusively, then.”

 

“What? Why?” Pearl asked, eyes wide, “Garnet why would we? I—we—need your guidance on missions.”

 

“You’ve been perfectly effective without me there,” Garnet’s lips were pursed in a frown, “You bubbled more Gems today than I did. At less risk to yourselves.”

 

“Opal’s arrows automatically bubble inactive Gems and shards,” Pearl protested, wringing her hands. “And our weapon is ranged, in close-combat we can’t compare to you!”

 

The fusion sighed through her nose, turning away. “You would do fine together. You’re a good match.”

 

For long moments, Pearl could only stare at her leader, face mostly obscured by her voluminous hair. Garnet’s behavior made no sense; she’d spent years demanding that they work together, encouraging them to fuse more often, and now that they were finally giving her the results she’d asked for, she was bristly and cold. The mission itself, though exhausting, had been a positive one; they could return to finish the task anytime, with the bulk of the enemies subdued. So why?

 

“Are you angry?” Pearl ventured tentatively, voice barely above a whisper.

 

“No.”

 

Garnet wasn’t one to lie, and Pearl had no doubt in her mind that she wasn’t about to start now. “Did we make a mistake out there?”

 

“No.”

 

Garnet folded her arms neatly over her chest, face betraying nothing. She should have walked farther; should’ve hidden, because this conversation was going nowhere she wanted to discuss. Pearl was more perceptive than she sometimes realized, and it was only a matter of time before—

 

“Wait a minute,” Pearl gasped, brows creased in confusion. “Are you _jealous_?”

 

Of course, Garnet thought. The third time was always the charm.

 

The fusion said nothing, didn’t so much as breathe. She could feel Pearl’s gaze on her, and the smaller Gem’s anticipation was almost tangible between them. Finally, Garnet sighed, releasing stale air that hadn’t done her any good. “Yes.” And knowing that Pearl would press her, she went on, “You and Amethyst compliment each other very well. Opal is stronger every time you fuse. Soon, you should have total control of maintaining her. You could fuse indefinitely.”

 

“Like you?” Pearl didn’t entirely understand. “Garnet, why would we—Amethyst and I couldn’t possibly! We’re not that compatible!”

 

Finally, Garnet turned to face her, lowering her visor. Exhaustion and resignation were plain in all three eyes. “I’ve seen it. There are many paths that lead to the two of you being Opal for centuries. You bicker, but none of your fights have been deep. It’s comfortable and familiar. Opal is a very real possibility. And she can fight without me.”

 

Pearl stared, slack-jawed, then shook her head. “But I can’t—we can’t!” she corrected herself, feeling her cheeks darken a vivid blue. “How can you suggest that we would ever want… I don’t think of Amethyst that way, not at all, we could never have what you have.”

 

Garnet closed her eyes, all three. It helped, hearing that. But the very idea, the distant possibility that Pearl’s feelings could change, left her stomach cold.

 

“And we would miss you,” Pearl insisted, daring to reach for Garnet’s arm, and when she wasn’t instantly shaken off, she clung fast. “Garnet, I could never be part of Opal forever. I… I couldn’t give up on… on us.” 

 

“Us?”

 

Long fingers clutched just barely too tight around her bicep, and Garnet waited with surprising patience for Pearl to explain herself. When her companion couldn’t answer immediately the fusion turned, cupping her chin and drawing her face up to keep her from looking away. “Please, continue.”

 

Being closer to Garnet’s face hardly made it easier to speak—actually, Pearl found her breath catching in her throat, a bundle of nerves between what she wanted to say and actually saying it. She swallowed hard. “I—I mean... Us. This. The two of us. Ohh, I don’t know how to explain!” Tears of frustration were brimming in her pale eyes, and Garnet let her draw away. When Pearl threw her arms around her shoulders, Garnet tugged her forward, flush against her breastplate, and Pearl fell neatly into her lap. Pearl gasped as strong arms encircled her, then pressed her face into the sweep of Garnet’s neck to hide her tears.

 

“I still miss it,” Pearl whispered, “I _already_ miss it. What we had before, before I ruined everything—before that stunt I pulled. I could barely function when you wouldn’t speak to me. I deserved it! I know. But I just…” her voice dropped, shoulders trembling against the urge to really cry. “I couldn’t go a week without you, Garnet. Without seeing you. Talking with you. I don’t want to see you through Opal’s eyes, I want _this_.”

 

“This,” Garnet echoed, feeling color flooding her own cheeks. Holding Pearl was too comfortable, and she had deliberately fought thinking about it for weeks now. “‘This' sounds like a proposal to make ‘us’ something more.”

 

“Ahh?” Pearl’s face burned a brilliant blue, and that flush spread down past her collar. “I—I suppose… it could be taken that way…”

 

The fusion hummed, splaying one hand across the small of Pearl’s back, beside the knot in her sash. She hadn’t foreseen this; had outright rejected the possibility countless times in light of Pearl’s longstanding feelings for Rose. She had rationalized away Pearl’s handholding and desperation to be at her side with countless excuses. Always the bigger Gem, Garnet had striven to keep balance among the Crystal Gems regardless of her own feelings, and now, given the choice…

 

They stood at a crossroads now, and there were so many open roads—many futures that would never come to fruition if they did this. And many more, she suspected, that she had never dared to consider. Garnet’s hold on the smaller woman tightened, feeling Pearl all but melt into her in response. 

 

“Then I will,” she decided, earning a startled look from the Gem in her arms. Garnet smiled, brushing her thumb along the sweep of her cheek, drying tears that hadn’t been lost against her neck earlier. “Starting now, we're ‘us’… if that’s what you want.” 

 

Pearl’s eyes lit up more brightly than a dozen stars, with a brilliant smile to match, and Garnet knew that she’d chosen the right path. “Of course! Ah—absolutely—yes!” Pearl stammered, forgetting to breathe, and Garnet leaned in to seal the deal with a feather soft kiss. She was met with more gusto than she’d expected, with the other Gem returning the kiss in the span of a wingbeat, insistent and affectionate, but clumsy in a way that betrayed her inexperience. Garnet had to take the lead, coaxing her mouth open to deepen the kiss. Still, the energy between them thrummed merrily, pulsed in their respective Gems, both electrifying and soothing, and when Pearl drew back, Garnet nearly pulled her in again for more.

 

She looked dazed, but by no means unhappily so, a blissfully dreamy smile on her lips. Garnet grinned, pushing Pearl’s fringe away from her Gem, and the other woman’s eyelids fluttered.

 

“It’s settled, then,” Garnet said, scarcely concealing the joy she had kept so tightly under wraps for centuries. “We are a couple from now on.”

 

Somehow, Garnet’s words brought Pearl back to reality, and she gasped. “But—Garnet, wait, I…” Slender fingers gripped Garnet’s shoulders, betraying her nervousness. “I still… need to make up for what I did, don’t I? After all that—“

 

“It’ll take some time,” Garnet cut her off with a quick kiss, then another in quick succession before she could protest. “And work. But if we both want the same thing, why put it off? I want to love you, and you—” 

 

“I do!” There were tears in Pearl’s eyes, and she hugged Garnet so tightly that both Gems lost their breath. “That is, I—I want to try. I do. I want this—with you. As long as you’ll have me.”

 

“Good,” Garnet’s grin widened, eyes shining in the dwindling light, and she cupped Pearl’s face in her hands. The Gems in her palms glowed, a faint assurance of Ruby and Sapphire’s blessing, and she planted a kiss first on Pearl’s Gem, then the tip of her sharp nose. Pearl spluttered in embarrassment, but it was hardly a coherent protest. “Let’s do this. For as long as we’re able.” She leaned in for a proper kiss, and Pearl melted into her without argument. 

 

It wasn’t long before the tide caught up to them. The moon was quickly rising in the sea, and with it the waterline. Garnet scooped Pearl into her arms, maneuvering over mossy rocks and just barely managing to make it back with water lapping at her heels. 

 

“What do we tell Steven?” Pearl asked, staring up at the beach house. The lights were still on—it was too early for Steven to have gone to bed, anyway. Amethyst’s reaction, they both knew, would be a combination of excessively loud and obnoxious. Pearl expected that. But the boy… She worried her bottom lip, glancing up at Garnet, brows furrowed. “How do we explain—“

 

“Pearl,” Garnet shushed her, quirking a lopsided smile, “It’s Steven. He’ll be thrilled.”

 

Garnet’s confidence put her worries to rest, and Pearl nodded, settling comfortably against her partner’s shoulder. When Garnet mounted the stairs, still carrying her as if she weighed nothing at all, Pearl made no protest. Upon reaching the patio, the fusion gently lowered her legs to let Pearl stand, and the smaller Gem dismounted, somewhat disappointed by the reminder of just how much smaller she was, standing on even ground. In a flash, Garnet’s visor was back in place, as if she’d never phased it away to begin with. 

 

Without a word, Garnet crooked an arm, extended her left hand for Pearl to take, and after a moment of hesitation their arms were interlocked, fingers twined together. Pearl reached for the door handle and was hardly surprised when it opened without her help, with Steven positively beaming up at them both from the threshold. 

 

“You guys finally made up?” he asked excitedly, gesturing toward their joined hands before tugging them both inside. 

 

“Something like that,” Garnet said simply, eyeing the flush that dusted Pearl’s nose.

 

Amethyst snickered from her sprawled out position on the couch, too full to budge after the absurdly large sandwich she’d eaten. “More like you finally _made out_ , am I right?”

 

“ _Amethyst_!” Pearl’s blush went clear to her hairline, embarrassment writ so plainly across her face that Garnet knew there was no talking their way out of this. “Don’t be so—so crude! In front of Steven, especially!”

 

“Whaaat? I didn’t say anything graphic,” Amethyst snorted, “He knows what that is!”

 

Pearl opened her mouth to argue, and Garnet tugged at her hand to reign her in. From the look on Steven’s face, he was more confused than upset, and Garnet’s free hand ruffled his curly hair reassuringly. “I hate to break it to you, Steven,” she said, “But Pearl and I may become even more embarrassing than Ruby and Sapphire, soon. Can you live with that?”

 

It was Steven’s turn to light up the room with a grin nearly too wide for his round face, dark eyes shining like stars. “You two’re in a relationship?!”

 

“W-well, we’re starting one,” Pearl supplied, flashing a nervous smile up at Garnet. “We’re going to try.”

 

“You two better not go through my room to meet each other in the middle of the night!” Amethyst complained, trying and failing to smother a grin. “But it’s about time."


End file.
